Never Forget
by Zcyler
Summary: - O N E S H O T - Four years after a tragic accident, a nineteen year old pays a visit to his sister and best friend as he recalls what happened on that fateful day. Minor Haruna/Fudou


**This is really the first time I've really written about character death… and because I haven't really experienced anyone that significant to me die nor has any movie's character death really affected me this was a bit of a challenge.**

**But more or less, most importantly what happened while I was writing about this. By the time I finished the first third of this story I took a break on facebook and learned that a teacher from my school (that I just graduated from) had just died. I didn't know her closely like some of the kids who had her class (she took Religious Education) but being as my role of head of IT and school photographer, it led me to meet and to get to know a lot of the other teachers I didn't have. At the end of sophomore year she discovered she had cancer – brain – and by the middle of my junior year she resigned her position but was still always around the school (just not teaching). She was amazing and I wish I got to know her more! **

**May she rest in peace.**

**It was pretty odd though she died while I was writing my first angst type story but even if those sad thoughts were filling up my mind I didn't want to stop typing up the story. So gomen if I may or may not have killed the whole story…**

**Disclaimer: Don't own Inazuma Eleven.**

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**NEVER FORGET**

It was cold.

No surprise really – it was winter after all.

December to be exact.

And like every year, a thin layer of white had already glazed the ground, coating every inch of every object in sight.

Usually, at this time of year, it was still a few degrees above freezing.

But this year he could have sworn the breath he breathed in the cold was even thicker than usual.

The thin coating of snow on the ground crunched between his shoes as he glanced forward.

The boy walked. As he did his thick dreadlocks bounced only slightly. Hands plunged into a black hoodie he shuddered as a soft breeze blew in his direction. The goggles which concealed his eyes fogged slightly and he wiped the lens with the sleeves of his shirt.

In his frosted hands, he carried two single stemmed flowers. A clear plastic wrap protected the flowers from the grasp of the icy atmosphere - a single black ribbon embraced each stem.

The crunching of ice came to a halt as the boy stopped at the entrance to where he was headed. The familiar tall black gates which separated the worlds stood open, calling to him to come forth and enter. Nothing had changed since the last time he was here, he could tell. It had been exactly a year since he'd entered the same grounds but everything was so damn familiar.

Time flies fast, doesn't it?

He knew this place well… a little too well.

After all, this was the fifth year in a row he'd come to this particular place.

Walking past the tall black iron gates and onto the barely visible path he glanced at the eerily quiet establishment.

The world around him was still a blanket of white and the sky up above him was grey – the same grey on the he'd never forget.

Apart from the leafless trees which sprung around every few metres, upright rock headstones planted in neat rows as far as the eye could see. Sometimes, they were great white crosses; instead, names of the lost engraved on their spines - either way, the markers filled the endless stretch of land.

Even though the size of the cemetery was astounding, by now, the boy had already memorized the exact way to his destination - It wasn't far from the entrance.

The boy quickly crossed the remaining distance.

He counted off the rows as he walked. After he reached twenty, he turned right into the rows of tombstones. He began walking again, this time counting to only five – right in the centre of the row.

He slowed down before eventually coming to a stop in the gap between two marble tombstones which lay still before him.

He knelt down on his knees, and removed his goggles so that they hung down loosely from his neck. Rubbing his blood red eyes, he glanced back at the tombstone on his left.

It all came back rushing to him:

Pain

Hurt

Devastation

Agony

Grief

Heartbreak

Love

Despite the fact the tears should have dried out years ago, they still threatened to fall.

His throat tightened and his mouth had gone dry. Even after all this time, the aching he once all those years ago felt as fresh as yesterday.

"Hey Haruna," he whispered quietly to the left tombstone, "It's your brother here again… I'm back like I promised."

"I know it's been a year…"He smiled softly as there was no response, "… but have you missed me?"

"Can you believe it's been four years now? ... I sure can't" Kidou sighed.

"I'm nineteen now sis… and you'd be turning eighteen next week. Eighteen Haruna! The big 'One Eight'. Remember how last year I told you I just graduated, you would've been a senior graduating this year. You'd be stressing out on college applications and final exams, you'd be dragging me to those dress stores to help you pick for the graduation ball… knowing you… you would have gotten into a great college for sure…"

He paused to chuckle softly. "To be honest, I don't know if I'm supposed to be talking to you like if you were fourteen, or if you were eighteen. But… you would have loved Raimon East High. Everybody's really nice, and yeah… You would have loved it."

Kidou felt the tears begin to lurk, and although he tried desperately to fight them off it wasn't quite working.

"How's mom and dad? I'm pretty sure their taking great care of you up there…I hope they're still watching over me… you know like when we were young and we'd always know they were watching over us… I hope you're still watching me too."

He paused. When he spoke again, it was slow, "I… miss you a lot… and not just me, everyone misses you a lot… I know it's been four years since what happened. Knowing you, you'd tell me not to blame myself for what happened. They tell it was never my fault… but I can't forgive myself after what happened. I should have… I should have been there to protect you. You're my little sister and I messed up... big time…"

He felt a few drops of warm tears trail down the length of his cheeks - He'd already given up on trying to hold it in, "I SHOULD have been the one to die … not you. Do you know how I felt when I saw you collapse… when _he_ collapsed too… You died before my eyes… and you didn't deserve it!"

"You know back then I spent so many months trying to join you, mom and dad up there... life was never the same without you… it never has." He smiled softly and crouched down, "But then Endou and Gouenji kept telling me to never give up… how you wouldn't have liked to see me do what I did to myself… and you know… they were probably right…"

"I was a fucking idiot you know… but I just wanted to see Mom, Dad and you… so damn badly… but look what I did to myself," He rolled up the sleeve to his right arm to reveal long scars which scaled up from his wrist to his elbow, "You're not here to patch me up this time, you always patched up my wounds… if you saw what I did to myself… and these scars aren't even the beginning to what I did. It…it just hurt so bad that you weren't here… but I'm getting through it... the others are helping me too."

He sighed once more and another thin smile grew on his face.

"I brought a rose again this year," he said, his voice now steadier and slightly calmer. "I don't know if you're sick of them by now but the light pink ones in mom's garden were always your favourite" he murmured, taking one rose and gently laying them down in front of Haruna's tombstone, "Youth… joy of life… that's what Mom used to say remember? And you were the joy of my life… you were so young, filled with energy and passion… and you will always be…"

His palm swept across the inscription on the rock, the words themselves were engraved in his own mind.

"_Here lies Otonashi Haruna_

_August 22th, 1994 – December 15th, 2008_

_Beloved daughter, devoted sister, cherished friend, and loved girlfriend._

_Her light shall never die._

He wrote the words and carved it into his brain once more and another tear fell down his cheek.

Everything was coming back to him.

That day.

That memory.

Etched into his mind forever.

_It was like any normal Sunday. There was no soccer practise and the goggle headed fifteen year old whisked past his father's office to get to the front door. He heard a shuffle of papers from the room and yelled "Off to Haruna's!" before racing off to the door – not waiting for an answer. _

_She was frazzled and breathless the moment she opened her door and let her brother in. Her hair was still a mess and she was still wearing pyjamas… she had obviously slept in… again. Kidou rolled his eyes and scolded the young girl he had reminded her what time he was coming which she had replied with a stick of the tongue. _

_Her mother laughed and invited him to eat breakfast with the three of them and he happily obliged as he greeted her father who was reading the morning newspaper._

He smiled bitterly, oh how he wished he had treasured that moment at the time. Back when his memories were still beautiful and untainted.

"Watch over me Haruna…" he murmured one last time before he rose from his position in front of Haruna's grave and moved over to the one beside hers. It was very similar to his sister's in construction, and the format of the inscription was similar as well. His eyes blinked over the words after not seeing them in a year. He had memorize them too and it still cut him sharp after reading it.

"_Here lies Fudou Akio_

_Beloved son, cherished friend, dependable brother, talented teammate and loving boyfriend._

_May 8th, 1994 – December 15th, 2008_

_He will live in our hearts forever._

"Hey Fudou… it's been a while hasn't it? Four years… well it was last year when I came here but still…"

"You know… back then I would have never believed I'd saying this… but I miss you, you idiot…" He crouched down to the tombstone and his hands felt for the inscribed words, "I miss you're nasty remarks, you're sarcasticness… I miss playing soccer with you…"

"You know the others still think of you…" Kidou sighed, "When Sakuma and Genda found out you were gone… they didn't leave their room for days… they started to starve themselves… the others didn't take it any better… oh you should have seen it Fudou… everyone misses you so damn much… so much I bet even you're stupid bench of yours miss you." He laughed dryly hoping Fudou could hear his sarcastic comment, "But they're all coping you know, every time we have a game we try to win it for you… and Haruna too…"

His throat hitched again and his voice slowed down once more.

"_Finally…" Fudou scoffed playfully at the two as he eyed his best friend and girlfriend._

_Haruna giggled and kissed him on the cheek, "Akio… we were only five minutes late…" she took his hand and led him to the empty playground where the three of them sat on the swings._

_To the eye it might have seemed a little childish, three mid-aged teenagers in a little kids playground but no one was stopping them. For what seemed like hours, they chased each other around the slides, pushed her on the swings before collapsing on the grass._

_They weren't kids anymore but they still did it._

_Like any other fun Sunday._

_It was happy._

"Knowing you, you'd skip class most of the time… when we started High School I mean. The rooftop… you would have probably slept there during the boring classes. You tell me there was no point in them and ace the tests anyway. If you weren't dating Haruna… you would have been popular… a ladies' man or something…

Kidou then gently set the other single stemmed flower in front of Fudou's grave. A rose… a bright yellow rose. "You were my best friend you know… it took time but in the end you really were. I knew that eventually you would marry Haruna and bow down at my knees pleading that I should accept the fact I had to let her go… the same way you bent at my knees when you wanted to date her."

"You know… at first I hated you for asking... she was my little sister after all… my happiness… the one I had to protect. If you'd asked my permission to marry her, I would have teased you and said no… but truthfully, I knew that you'd be the only man that would make her happy… the only man I would have approve of…"

The next thing Kidou remembered of that day was the beginning of the horror.

_He leaped up the moment he heard the ice cream truck passing down the street and yelled to the two that he'd buy for the three of them._

_Oh if only he hadn't left._

_If he'd only waited a few minutes more._

_Or gone a few minutes earlier._

_Or he'd at least taken the two with him_

_Why now?_

_Why out of all time?_

_Why did it have to happen the moment he'd turned away from them?_

_He was grinning happily the minute the ice cream man had had handed him the three ice creams._

_But that grin slowly went away the moment he heard a threatening sound._

_A gun shot._

_He turned around and his eyes widened in horror as a man is black with a mask on his face and a deadly gun in his hand pointed at his sister and his best friend._

_A deadly scream._

_It was like his feet were frozen to the ground… _

_Helpless…_

_He couldn't move no matter how hard he tried, his eyes were set to the scene in front of him_

_A second gunshot._

_He watched as his best friend's shielding grip on his sister loosened and he collapsed to ground. _

"_AKIO!" He heard his sister scream as she dropped down to the limp body, "AKIO! NO. NO. PLEASE NO…. YOU PROMISED YOU'D ALWAYS BE HERE FOR ME… NO AKIO… WAKE UP!"_

_The gunman scoffed, "SHUT UP BITCH! YOU'RE SCREAMING IS ANNOYING ME!"_

_A final gunshot._

"_HARUNA!" Kidou couldn't speak at all, his throat was completely dry but his mind yelled everything possible. To himself, to the gunman, to Fudou… to Haruna. _

_Haruna._

_Fudou._

_They were…_

_No. They were fine. They had to be fine. The gunman wasn't trying to kill them… right? They hadn't done anything wrong… why would he attempt to kill them? Death by gunshot… That stuff only happened in the movies … right? Right?_

_Kidou attempted to console himself in as many ways as he could. Fudou was strong right could defend himself, he was strong… he could take on anything… he could take on any hissatsu thrown at him, he could outsmart anyone… even this gunman… right?_

_Kidou tried to let his naive explanations to lull him into a false sense of security. But the sight of his motionless best friend and sister… they couldn't be gone… they just couldn't…_

_The sudden shrill of sirens woke him from his frozen shock and as he watched the masked man run off with the police at his tow, Kidou ran towards the bodies which lay motionless on the floor._

_With at least half a dozen large crimson spots all over his black t-shirt._

_His eyes were closed, his Mohawk was a mess, he had fallen on his back, yet his face was calm and serene… _

"_Please… just please…" he thought to himself._

"_Fudou… wake up Fudou!" he let out a whimper, "Please… wake up… please…"_

_After a couple more shakes he began to grow frustrated, "FUDOU, DON'T FUCK WITH ME, WAKE UP YOU BAKA… PLEASE…"_

_His tears fell upon the face of the limp boy's obvious wound in his chest._

_They continued to flow as he moved to his sister shaking him the same way he had done to Fudou,_

"_Please Haruna… you promised you wouldn't leave me too… you promised." He breathing quickened and his mouth became dry, "First Mom and Dad… I don't want to lose you too… I have to protect you… I couldn't protect you… please… please wake up Haruna… please_

_Time around him stopped completely._

_Kidou couldn't believe his eyes._

_No._

_No it can't be._

_The unmoving, lifeless, shot corpses weren't Fudou or Haruna. They couldn't be. _

_But it was._

_He saw them die right in front of his very eyes._

_And he did nothing to save them._

_To protect them._

_Kidou screamed._

_What happened after that was a blur. It seemed that after that, he had presumably passed out. He'd woken up a few minutes later in the warm embrace of Haruna's mother and father, who was now sobbing uncontrollably. She breathed a "Thank God" as Kidou came to consciousness again in her arms, but their sobbing continued and Kidou joined them._

_That day, he didn't think there had been anything to thank God for._

Kidou exhaled a shaky, shuddering sigh.

"You guys… you had so much left to live for. We promised to get into college together, to keep playing soccer together... to do everything together… your dreams should have lasted longer than this."

"I- I mean we… We all miss you… not a day goes by when we don't think of you." Kidou paused, "I hope you're doing well up there… I know you are. Watch over for me will you? And the others too…"

He laughed softly to himself, "Fudou you better be taking care of her up there… because if you don't… I'll come up there myself and kick your ass."

He took a deep breath, dried his tears, cooled his face, gathered his composure and slowed his heartbeat down before sling the goggles back onto his eyes, "I've gotta go… but I'll be back next year… I promise… I would never forget…"

He gave the two graves one more look, "I love you both," he whispered before heading off out of the cemetery.

As he exited the gates one more time, a warm breeze picked up, he could've sworn he heard his best friend's snigger and his sister's light laughter.

And he could never forget it.

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**Gaa first story like this was a fail...**

**To be honest I wrote today out of all days because I totally wasted our 80GB broadband plan… unlike in America and most counties, we have restricted internet and when you waste that load the internet goes extremely slow … I could have drawn more art but I was having an artist block…**

**So I've been on and off been have inspiration block… it's been hard since I want to write but I lose passion when I write which is kind of annoying. Hopefully I'll get back in the groove …eventually. I started watching jdramas too compared to my massive raid of weekly anime and they've kind of sparked me up… so we'll see?**

**So... till next time**

**-Tripp**


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